NEW TO THEATERS

Friday

Mar 1, 2013 at 12:01 AM

NEW TO THEATERS

NEW TO THEATERS

21 and over: College farce about the events of a 21st birthday. It does not include a game of Monopoly. No review available.

Jack the Giant Slayer: Surprise! Director Bryan Singer, a first-rate cast and a stellar team of screenwriters, set designers and special-effects wizards have dusted off an old and never particularly compelling fairy tale and have given us a great-looking thrill ride. It's filled with neat touches, from the casting of Ewan McGregor as a knight in shining armor to an epilogue that's just flat-out cool. Even for those who didn't think they'd give a fee, a fi, a fo or a fum about this movie, it's a rousing, original and thoroughly entertaining adventure. HHH½

the last exorcism part ii: Sure, why not. no review available.

Phantom: Inspired by true events, but filled with speculative fiction, this Cold War drama occurs almost entirely aboard a nearly obsolete Soviet submarine in 1968. The sub's world-weary commander (Ed Harris) battles epilepsy, drinks too much and is plagued by flashbacks that seem right out of a horror movie. Harris and the rest of the cast try hard with material that asks us to not only suspend disbelief but to expel it. The ending is a howler, provoking uneasy chuckles. Whatever really happened with that sub in 1968, we can be reasonably sure this wasn't it. HH

Quartet: A sweet, sentimental, predictable story set in a luxurious British retirement home for actors and opera singers. First-time director Dustin Hoffman has his heart in the right place and loves these characters. His screen is filled with legends (Tom Courtenay, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly, Gwyneth Jones). But much is unlikely, including the theory that a gala on Verdi's birthday could raise enough cash to save the elegant manor. HH½

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AMOUR: The Palme d'Or winner from Cannes 2012 is a masterpiece from Michael Haneke ("Cache," "The White Ribbon") about the closing days of a great romance. The French legends Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva co-star as a couple who have lived in love together for decades, but now, in their 80s, their time together begins to end. Such a story is not melodrama. Nor is it tragedy. It is just about the way things are. A profound and uplifting masterpiece. HHHH

Beautiful Creatures: Though not specifically conceived to fill the void left by the $2 billion "Twilight" franchise, comparisons are inevitable, as we're again presented with a story about a smart, serious, semi-loner high school student who falls for a mysterious newcomer with supernatural powers. It would all be pretty tedious, goth-youth nonsense if not for the considerable delights provided by a mostly veteran supporting cast of Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson, Viola Davis and Emmy Rossum, who are all having great fun. If only that approach extended to the two young leads, who behave like typically sullen teenagers. HH½ — Richard Roeper

DARK SKIES: A family is being chased out of its home, or being locked in its home, by some kind of nasty, mystical force. Or something along those lines. It's scary. No review available.

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH: Animated kids fare about heroes from an alien planet. No review available.

A Good Day to Die Hard: The latest installment of the action franchise plays as if we're watching Bruce Willis in a Bruce Willis movie in which Bruce Willis can survive anything while taking out the villains, video-game style. A quarter-century after the first "Die Hard," the venerable John McClane has been stripped of any real traces of an actual three-dimensional character. H½ — Richard Roeper

Hansel and Gretel: WITCH HUNTERS: Jeremy Renner as Hansel in the slightly altered story of Hansel and Gretel. No review.

Life of Pi: A miraculous achievement of storytelling and a landmark of visual mastery. Inspired by a worldwide best-seller that seemed unfilmable, it is a triumph over its difficulties. It is also a moving spiritual achievement, a movie whose title could have been shortened to "Life." The story involves the 227 days that its teenage hero (Suraj Sharma) spends drifting across the Pacific in the same lifeboat as a Bengal tiger. The movie quietly combines various religious traditions to enfold its story in the wonder of life. How remarkable that these two mammals, and the fish beneath them and birds above them, are all here. One of the year's best. HHHH

Lincoln: Steven Spielberg's new film focuses on only a few months of Lincoln's life, including the passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery, the surrender of the Confederacy and his assassination. Rarely has a film attended more carefully to the details of politics. Daniel Day-Lewis creates a Lincoln who is calmly self-confident, patient and willing to play politics in a realistic way. Not about an icon of history, but about a president who was scorned by some of his opponents as a hayseed from the backwoods. He understood them better than they did him. Sure to win many Academy Award nominations. HHHH

Safe Haven: Directed by the versatile Lasse Hallstrom and starring the attractive duo of Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough, "Safe Haven" is yet another entry in the Nicholas Sparks book-to-movie factory that has given us "The Notebook," "Message in a Bottle," "Dear John," etc. For 90 percent of the journey, it's a solid movie for those in the mood for some good old-fashioned, great-looking-couple-gets-caught-in-the-rain romance. Then something happens at the very end that'll make you question the film's sanity. H½ — Richard Roeper

Side Effects: Rooney Mara stars as an edgy young woman named Emily whose husband (Channing Tatum) has been released after four years in prison for insider trading. Things don't go smoothly for Emily, and she's referred to a psychiatrist (Jude Law), who prescribes a new drug named Ablixa. The drug causes some alarming behavior as director Steven Soderbergh draws us into a vortex of whispers that something haunted and possessed is going on. HHH½

Silver Linings Playbook: Pat (Bradley Cooper) is confident and upbeat for a man just released from a mental hospital and under a restraining order from his wife. He's determined to surprise everyone by moving ever onward and upward. What stage of bipolar disorder would you guess he's in? His parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) are well-meaning but dubious. A prickly neighborhood widow (Jennifer Lawrence) wants to sleep with him and is offended that he's interested only because she's in touch with his ex-wife. This all somehow comes down to intersecting bets about a football game and a ballroom dance contest. Written and directed by David O. Russell. HHH½

SNITCH: The Rock tries to save his son from 10 years in prison by rounding up some drug dealers. No review available.

Warm Bodies: Here's a bloody, fresh twist on the most popular horror genre of this century, with none-too-subtle echoes of a certain star-crossed romance that harkens back to a certain Bard who placed a certain young Romeo under a certain balcony. A well-paced, nicely directed, post-apocalyptic love story, it has a terrific sense of humor and the, um, guts to be unabashedly romantic and unapologetically optimistic. A lot of zombie movies have heart, but usually the heart ends up on someone's plate. Cheers to "Warm Bodies" for taking us in a different direction for a change. HHH½ — Richard Roeper

Zero Dark Thirty: Two hours of watching a loner female CIA strategist who knows she is right — and the payoff that she is. Jessica Chastain stars as Maya, who was right all along, providing the film with a timely heroine. Lots of murky action in the big capture and death, but lacking the split-second timing and relentless action of director Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker." These characters are less compelling, and the outcome less meaningful. HHH

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